Easy Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Turn cucumbers into homemade dill pickles in 48 hours…with no canning! This fun recipe for easy refrigerator dill pickles happens all in the fridge.  Let’s get to pickling!

Why this recipe works

I don’t know what came over me one day, but I suddenly got this inescapable urge to make my own pickles.

Now mind you, I have never pickled, canned or preserved anything in my life.  My beloved collection of mason jars have been used exclusively for shaking up salad dressing and scrambled eggs, and for serving brownie cake with ice cream.

But somewhere along the line I figured out that there was such a thing as refrigerator pickles…no boiling or canning or other intimidating things involved…and I was in!

First up: get me some Kirby cucumbers.

What are kirby cucumbers?

There are all kinds of different cucumbers out there, from the common garden cucumber that you are probably most familiar with, to seedless English cucumbers, and lots more.

The Kirby cucumber is a short, dense, bumpy cucumber that is perfect for making pickles because of its size and texture. They are pretty easy to find in the supermarket (or even better, your local farmer’s market) and sometimes they will actually be named pickling cucumbers.

Ingredients you need

Ingredients notes and substitutions

• Cucumbers: Kirby cucumbers are the very best choice for making these refrigerator pickles because of their perfect short size and their thick skin – they hold up the best. Sometimes they will be called pickling cucumbers.
• Mustard Seeds: You can find these little seeds in with the spices in your supermarket. They are part of what adds the spice to your pickles.
• Fresh Dill: This bushy, tender herb is (you guessed it) essential to the flavor of dill pickles. Have some leftover? Make this dill-garnished beef stroganoff spaghetti and meatballs!
• Garlic: This is part of what adds the spice to your pickles, so you can use more or less depending on how spicy you like things.
• Red Pepper Flakes: You can find these in the spice aisle of your supermarket, and (you guessed it again) these little red flakes impact the spice level. So you can use more or less, or leave them out altogether.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.

Here’s how to make this recipe

STEP 1: Mix up a combo of white vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes and hot water.  I like to do this in a big measuring cup because we will be pouring it out in just a sec.

STEP 2: While the vinegar mixture is cooling, put your cut cucumbers into a large mixing bowl and toss them with some crushed garlic and lots and lots of fresh dill.

STEP 4: When the vinegar mixture is cooled off, pour it over the cucumber dill mixture until the cukes are underwater (or should I say, under-brine?  Brine is what us pickle-makers call the vinegar stuff).  Put a plate on top of the cukes to make sure they stayed obediently submerged, cover the whole thing with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.

STEP 5: Wait 48 long hours.  The first time I made these pickles, periodically I would peek into the refrigerator to see what was happening, which looked like not too much.   But secretly, they were turning into pickles. Finally at the end of the second day, unwrap the bowl, admire how your cukes have turned into a more pickle-ish color and have a bite.  And…it will be a PICKLE!

A tart, spicy, crunchy, slightly garlicky, totally miraculous pickle!  That you have made yourself!

Equipment we used for this recipe

These are some of my favorite kitchen tools! These are Amazon affiliate links, which means I get a little something if you buy through my links at no extra cost to you. (Which helps pay for all that bacon I keep buying! 😄) And I only share things I use and love. I’m so grateful for your support!

• Measuring Cup: We love these angled cups that show the measurements on both the inside and outside of the cup.
• Measuring Spoons: These handy magnetic spoons are not on a ring, so you can just pick the one you need.
• Cutting Board: These sturdy, dishwasher-safe cutting boards come in all different sizes.
• Glass Storage Jar: This is perfect for storing your finished pickles (and it’s also great sitting on your counter full of rum raisin oatmeal cookies!
• Pyrex Mixing Bowls: These classic sturdy bowls come in all different sizes, and are great for everything from mixing ingredients to being casual serving bowls.

Recipe FAQs

And as the days went by, these only get better – spicier and more and more pickle-ish.   These pickles will keep several weeks in the fridge. Once I go past the 48 hour mark, I keep them in a covered glass storage jar in the brine – takes up less fridge space that way!

Now, I’ve made my own butter, my own ricotta cheese, my own applesauce…but honestly, nothing has ever made me as ridiculously excited as making my own pickles.

Which is good, because incomprehensibly, the Southern husband is not a big pickle fan.  He ate a couple to be polite and supportive, but aside from that it’s been me and about one million pickles.

Anyone want a really fabulous pickle?